BENGALURU: India’s tech capital–Bengaluru–has emerged as the top science and technology (S&T) cluster in the country, sending more than 3,200 scientific patents to the International Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), and publishing more than 17,000 publications in 2020.
According to the 2020 edition of the “Global Innovation Index” (GII) report released on Wednesday, Bengaluru has moved up by five ranks to secure 60th spot among the top 100 S&T cluster rankings, compiled by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
The city also found a spot in the top 11, globally, for venture capital investments and has been named as the “top tech startup destination” for investors and accelerator funds in the GII report.
Bengaluru overtook European cities like Sao Paulo, Helinski, Vienna, Warsaw in the Top 100 S&T cluster rankings. The report credits Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru as one of the reasons behind this trend. Delhi ranked a 67, which was an improvement of three spots.
In “S&T intensity” rankings, Bengaluru was at 97th position–of the top 100–with 143 scientific publications per capita. Delhi came in at 99, with 138 scientific publications per capita, while Mumbai was at the 100th position with 92 scientific publications per capita.
Bengaluru also had 28 PCT applications per capita, while Delhi and Mumbai had 4 and 6 global patents per capita applied under the PCT office.
The PCT office is managed by the World Intellectual Treaty Organization. It allows researchers and scientists to seek patent protection for an invention.
Bengaluru’s top science and tech research field was identified as chemistry, which came from IISC Bengaluru, contributing 12.62% of all the scientific publications in chemistry-related papers globally. Delhi contributed to 7.93% of all such papers globally, which came from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, while Mumbai contributed 16.4% which was published by Bhabha Atomic Research Center.
GII said VC investments were concentrated in a few cities in 2020 which also include Bengaluru. Eleven cities—including six in the US, three in China, London, and Bengaluru—accounted for over 60% of total venture capital disbursements worldwide.
“This divide is likely to become even more pronounced in the years following the current economic crisis…(However) India boasts a vibrant start-up ecosystem, hosting 6 of the top 100 most entrepreneurial cities in the world, with Bengaluru occupying the 11th position,” the GII report said.
In StartupBlink’s 2019 ranking of the “most entrepreneurial cities”, six Indian cities made it to the top 100. Bengaluru was ranked the top startup city in India and the 11th globally, while New Delhi and Mumbai followed in the 18th and 29th spots, respectively. StartpBlink said Chennai, Hyderabad, and Pune also made it to the top 100 list of “most entrepreneurial cities”.
StartupBlink is a global researcher of startup ecosystem rankings that map both private and public sector startup world-wide.
There were over 280 domestic investors in India in 2017, GII pointed out in its report. Around 150 of them are angel investors, 95 of them are VCs, 15 to 20 were corporations, 5–10 investors were accelerators, and more than 220 foreign investors as well.
“While Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai are the clear winners as start-up destinations, 21 other cities have emerged as start-up hubs. The ecosystem is maturing with successful Indian entrepreneurs investing in start-ups. There is, however, a trend of start-ups moving to more mature global hubs in search of larger investments, markets, and mentoring. The policy environment, if made more transparent, predictable, and enforceable, could help attract more capital—including more domestic capital—into innovation activities in the country,” GII added.